Calculating with Numbers in Standard Form

Prior Knowledge:
• Index laws for multiplication, division and indices.
• Converting numbers to and from standard form.

When working with numbers in standard form, you sometimes have to be able to carry out
calculations, which may include multiplication, division, addition, subtraction and indices. The
following examples and questions describe how to do this without a calculator. If a calculator is
available, simply input the numbers as standard form, using a button labelled [×10 x ], and perform
the calculations as normal.

Example 1:
What is 3 × 104 × 2.5 × 103 ? Give your answer in standard form.

With multiplication and division, we carry out our calculations by looking at the ordinary numbers
and the powers of 10 separately. Multiplication is commutative – this means the order of the
numbers does not make a difference – so we can rearrange our calculation to look like this:
3 × 104 × 2.5 × 103 = (3 × 2.5) × (104 × 103)

We can calculate 3 × 2.5 like any other multiplication and we can use index laws to calculate
104 × 103:
3 × 2.5 = 7.5
104 × 103 = 104 + 3 = 107

This gives us a final answer of:

3 × 104 × 2.5 × 103 = 7.5 × 107

Example 2:
What is 6 × 104 ÷ 3 × 109 ? Give your answer in standard form.

Although the order does matter when carrying out division, we can still rearrange this calculation
to show that we can divide the ordinary numbers and powers of 10 separately:
4 9 6 × 104 6 104
6 × 10 ÷ 3 × 10 = = ×
3 × 109 3 109

We can then calculate our answer:

6÷3=2
104 ÷ 109 = 104 – 9 = 10-5

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Giving us a final answer of:
6 × 104 ÷ 3 × 109 = 2 × 10-5

A common mistake here is to write the answer as 2 ÷ 10-5. Although the calculation was a division,
standard form is always in the format a × 10b (where 1 ≤ a < 10).

Example 3:
What is 4 × 106 × 6 × 10-2? Give your answer in standard form.

As before, we will multiply our ordinary numbers and powers of 10 separately:

4 × 106 × 6 × 10-2 = (4 × 6) × (106 × 10-2) = 24 × 104

Now, we have to be careful. Our question says “give your answer in standard form” – our answer
is not in standard form as 24 is not between 1 and 10. This can happen in any calculation involving
standard form, but it is more likely in multiplication (with a numerical result greater than or equal
to 10) and division (with a numerical result less than 1). Therefore, we have to convert our answer
back to standard form:
24 × 104 = (2.4 × 101) × 104 = 2.4 × 105

Example 4:
What is 8 × 105 + 3 × 105? Give your answer in standard form.

When it comes to addition or subtraction of standard form, the process can be a little more
complicated, but not in this case: we have 8 lots of 105 and we are adding 3 lots of 105, which gives
us 11 lots of 105. Much like when adding fractions with the same denominator, when adding or
subtracting standard form with the same power of 10, just add or subtract the ordinary numbers:
8 × 105 + 3 × 105 = 11 × 105
11 × 105 = (1.1 × 101) × 105 = 1.1 × 106

Example 5:
What is 7 × 105 – 5 × 104? Give your answer in standard form.

In this case, the powers of 10 are different. To carry out this subtraction, we need to convert them
to a common power of 10. In theory, we could either convert them both to … × 105 or … × 104,
but converting to the smaller power of 10 will give a result that is not in standard form. We will
therefore convert to … × 105:
5 × 104 = 0.5 × 105

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We can now subtract the ordinary numbers:
7 × 105 – 5 × 104 = (7 – 0.5) × 105 = 6.5 × 105

Example 6:
What is (1.5 × 103)2? Give your answer in standard form.

Calculations with indices work in a similar way to multiplications and divisions. You raise the
ordinary number to the given power (whether that power is a positive integer, a negative integer
or a fraction) and the power of 10 to the given power:
(1.5 × 103)2 = 1.52 × (103)2
= 2.25 × 103 × 2
= 2.25 × 106

Example 7:
What is 3.5 × 104 + 3 × 102? Give your answer in standard form.

The other option, in any standard form question, is to convert the numbers to ordinary numbers,
carry out the calculation then convert back to standard form. Be careful, as this can lead to large
numbers, particularly when carrying out calculations involving multiplication or indices.
3.5 × 104 = 35 000
3 × 102 = 300
35 000 + 300 = 35 300
35 300 = 3.53 × 104

Summary:

Multiplication: Multiply the ordinary numbers and powers of 10 separately.

Division: Divide the ordinary numbers and powers of 10 separately.
Indices: Raise the ordinary numbers and powers of 10 to the power separately.
Addition: Convert to the higher power of 10 then add the ordinary numbers.
Subtraction: Convert to the higher power of 10 then subtract the ordinary numbers.

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Your Turn:
1. Carry out the following calculations. Give your answers in standard form:

a. 3.2 × 105 × 3 × 106 f. 2.8 × 1012 + 5 × 1011

 

b. 2.1 × 107 + 5.85 × 107 g. 2.5 × 105 × 3.24 × 10-3

 

c. 8.48 × 105 ÷ 4 × 103 h. 4 × 104 ÷ 5 × 10-2

 

d. (5 × 104)2 i. 5.1 × 109 + 3 × 107

 

e. 3.45 × 106 – 2.89 × 106 j. 1.04 × 109 – 7.2 × 107

 

2. Carry out the following calculations. Give your answers in standard form:

a. 2 × 105 + 3 × 103 × 2 × 103 c. 5 × 103 – 2 × 102 + 7 × 104

 

b. 8 × 104 ÷ 4 × 108 + 3 × 10-7 × 2.1 × 104

3. Find 68% of 5 × 1014. Give your answer in standard form.

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4. The shape below is a very large rectangle.

6 × 107 m

1.8 × 108 m

a. What is the perimeter of the rectangle? Give your answer in standard form.

b. What is the area of the rectangle? Give your answer in standard form.

c. The rectangle is the front face of a rectangular prism, of depth 0.5m. What is the volume
of the prism? Give your answer in standard form.

5. The average distance from the Earth to the Sun is 1.5 × 108 km. The speed of light in a vacuum
is 3 × 105 km/s.
a. How long does it take for light to travel from the Sun to the Earth? Give your answer in
seconds in standard form.

b. How long is this in minutes and seconds?

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6. There are 5.3 × 1018 molecules of oxygen in one cm3 of air. If a room has dimensions 2m ×
5m × 8m, how many molecules of oxygen does it contain? Give your answer in standard form.

7. A billionaire has $1.9 × 1011. He invests this in an account that pays 6% interest per year.
a. Over a single year, how much interest does he earn? Give your answer in standard form.

b. In a non-leap year, how much interest does he earn in a day? Give your answer as an
ordinary number to 1 significant figure.

Challenge:
The shape below is a very small isosceles triangle. Find its area, giving your answer in standard
form.


1.3 × 10-4 mm



1 × 10-4 mm 

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